America the Beautiful

The Politico illustrates the divide in America the Beautiful, between the heartland and the Beltway elites and their ilk, though they do point out that cultural issues can be decisive:

It is not an easy balance. It is not reporters’ job to promote the opposition’s story lines — especially dubious ones like the suggestion that because Obama does not favor flag pins on his lapel it reflects adversely on his patriotism.

But in his remarks he disses those who do:

Obama says he doesn't like how the pin has come to represent patriotism in America.

The senator told TV-9, "I decided I won't wear that pin on my chest, instead I'm going to try to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great. Hopefully that will be a testimony to my patriotism."

The NY Times notes approvingly at the time:

Senator Barack Obama said Thursday that he stopped wearing an American flag pin on his lapel years ago, saying the symbol has become an empty substitute for true patriotism.

“Somebody noticed I wasn’t wearing a flag lapel pin and I told folks, well you know what? I haven’t probably worn that pin in a very long time. I wore it right after 9/11,” Mr. Obama said. “But after a while, you start noticing people wearing a lapel pin, but not acting very patriotic.

And has claimed great moral vanity for himself, then lied about it when it was expedient during the debate:

"I have never said that I don't wear flag pins or refuse to wear flag pins," he said in response to a voter's videotaped question. "This is the kind of manufactured issue that our politics has become obsessed with."

Who has made a big deal of this initially anyway, hmm?

And now we have evidence that small town voters are not the ones bitter about hot button issues--it's elitist liberals who are.

I grew up in a small, rural town in Wisconsin, I've lived in one or two major cities on the coast, and now in a suburb. But in small towns all across America, and in many neighborhoods in cities and suburbs alike, Americans are united on this--America is the beautiful. God shed his grace on thee. And they love their country. Crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea. Maybe Barack Obama doesn't need to wear a lapel pin of the flag. That's fine, it's his choice. Maybe Barack Obama wasn't in church the Sunday after Sept. 11th, but an overwhelming number of Americans were--some who hadn't been for years.

While some in upscale Obama country may have forgotten what they felt that day, on that Sunday in my predominantly liberal parish in Wilmette, mass closed with God Bless America, not God Damn America, and everyone sang.

UPDATE: Mark Steyn:

No, what Michelle Malkin calls Crackerquiddick (quite rightly – it's more than just another dreary "-gate") is not just snobbish nor even merely wrongheaded. It's an attack on two of the critical advantages the United States holds over most of the rest of the Western world. In the other G7 developed nations, nobody clings to God 'n' guns. The guns got taken away, and the Europeans gave up on churchgoing once they embraced Big Government as the new religion.

How's that working out? Compared with America, France and Germany have been more or less economically stagnant for the past quarter-century, living permanently with unemployment rates significantly higher than in the United States.

UPDATE: see dubya at Michelle Malkin:

Does Obama really believe that Tom Coburn is the moral equivalent of Ayers, or was he just caught unprepared and crammed his foot into his mouth? I hope it’s the latter, because this man might end up as our President and I’d like to think he knows the difference between a bomb-throwing, America-hating terrorist and a pork-slashing Senator from Tulsa.*

And Gateway Pundit--Obama's Six Degrees of Separation.

UPDATE: Michael Barone, the rules have changed for Obama:

But Obama's choices to associate with Wright and Ayers tend to undercut his appealing message -- very appealing after 15 years of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush -- that we must strive to overcome the racial and cultural and ideological divisions which have dominated our politics They are something that voters are entitled to weigh as they make their decisions.

The MSM can't get away with this any more--they can't filter this and decide what's important to the rest of us. Legitimate debate is one way to resolve these differences. Conservatives have been dealing with defending themselves in the debate for years--it's time for liberals to start.

More: Obama fades in the Gallup poll, behind Hillary for the first time in a month. Via HotAir. RCP average. Rasmussen shows McCain leads both. RCP Head to Heads.